MCC Votes & Seats Podcast – Election insight

In May 2025, the presidential election in Romania, which was annulled last December, was repeated amid considerable social and political tensions. Mathematician and independent Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan faced former football hooligan George Simion, the leader of the far-right AUR party in the second round.

Our guest expert, Prof. Alexandra A. Iancu claims that the invalidation of the original election consolidated the sovereigntist camp, however, the end result of the re-run showed that the majority of Romanian voters see their country’s future within the Euro-Atlantic cooperation.

The political scientist sees no doubt shifts in party preferences, inasmuch as the historical moderate parties are loosing ground, while anti-system and anti-corruption political formations are becoming more and more popular.

• Can Nicușor Dan’s inauguration put an end to the years-long political instability in the country?
• Will there be a reorganization in the party system of Romania, or the status-quo survives the turmoil?
• What can be said about the voting preferences of the different layers of society?
• Will there be any political gesture towards ethnic Hungarians and Moldovan–Romanian dual citizens, whose votes made Dan’s victory possible?

Among many other thought-provoking issues, these are the topics we addressed in this episode of the Votes and Seats podcast.

• Alexandra A. Iancu

Professor, University of Bucharest

• Bálint L. Tóth

Researcher-lecturer, MCC Center for Political Science

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

Chosen by God, elected by the cardinals

In May 2025, the Conclave has elected the American Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Bishop of Rome, the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and the head of Vatican City State, the Holy See.

Our guest expert, Mr. Marco Malaguti from Centro Studi Machiavelli claims that Pope Leo XIV is a compromise between the Latin American and the European cardinals, because, with his pragmatism, the first US-born pontiff can restore a “Catholic way of thinking” in the West.

The analyst considers the election of Pope Leo XIV an “oxygen mask” for Catholicism in contemporary western societies.

In the SPECIAL EDITION of the Votes&Seats podcast, we assess

• the balance of power and the advocacy potential of the different platforms within the Conclave
• what is the differentiate between “politician” and “spiritual” popes?
• what do progressivism and conservativism mean in ecclesiastical terms?
• and finally, what religious, political, and cultural legacy did late Pope Francis leave us?

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

Following the collapse of the so-called “traffic light” coalition in late 2024, a snap federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025, 7 months before the “ordinary” one scheduled for late September. In the campaign, the economic situation and immigration and public security were the top issues on the agenda. The stakes of the election and voter expectations were high, which is indicated by the highest turnout (82.5%) since the reunification of the country.

What was the parties’ strategy? What happened at the polls? What motivated the citizens to vote in such a large number? Does the increasingly visible East–West divide in voter behavior and preferences indicate a structural change in party competition and the party system? Who are the “winners” and “losers” of the election? What are the prospects for the right-wing populist AfD? How will the CDU-CSU and the SPD reach an agreement to form a government? How will the German–Hungarian bilateral relations develop under the new cabinet? In the new episode of the Votes & Seats podcast series of the Center for Political Science of Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Szabolcs Janik had the honor to discuss these and similar questions with Oliver W. Lembcke, professor of political science at the Ruhr University in Bochum and visiting fellow at MCC.

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

The first episode of the Votes & Seats podcast’s 5th season flies us to the heart of the Balkans. Thanks to the most valuable professional insights from Mr. Mehdi Sejdiu, we were lucky to have the bigger picture about the background, the circumstances, and the main conclusions of the February 2025 legislative election in Kosovo.

Our guest expert pointed out that the internal cohesion of the governing coalition made Albin Kurti’s cabinet successful in completing a full 4-year term and winning the subsequent election. In the 2025 campaign, the governing Vetëvendosje party's rhetoric was not targeted against other political formations but towards business corporations and media outlets for their alleged interference in politics and state affairs. Kurti, in exchange, was criticized for having caused instability by the dismantling of parallel Serbian-Kosovan institutions in the areas of the country where ethnic Serbs give the majority, a governmental initiative that led to the EU introducing unfavorable measures against Kosovo – Mr. Sejdiu added.

Fancy knowing more about the social-political cleavages in the youngest state of the Balkans?

Interested in the current state-of-the-art of certain political aspirations aiming at the unification of Kosovo and Albania?

Tired of the newsportals’ black-and-white narratives and wanna get a more sophisticated opinion about the prospects of the Prishtina-Belgrade dialogue in light of these countries’ EU accession endeavors?

Then, here is your best chance to quench your thirst for a more complex knowledge about the political mosaic of Kosovo.

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

A scheduled Romanian legislative election was held on 1 December 2024, between, now we can say, the planned two rounds of the presidential election. Following the decision of the Constitutional Court annulling the result of the first round, many are guessing what comes next, when will Romania hold the presidential election and when will it have a properly elected new president. In the meantime, the legislative election was successfully held, with the social democrats (PSD) taking the first place, followed by the right-wing populist AUR, and the liberals (PNL) coming third. And while mainstream moderate parties (PSD, PNL and the centrist USR) suffered a large drop in their share of popular vote and their number of seats in both chambers after 2020, AUR and two newly founded right-wing radical parties performed massively. The UDMR, representing the interests of the Hungarian minority, also performed decently to become a stable party in the legislation once again.

What was the campaign like? What happened at the polls? Why is the turnout in legislative elections traditionally low in Romania (in contrast to presidential elections)? What is the problem with Georgescu’s first-round win, what do we know today? What are the prospects for a new government? Szabolcs Janik, senior researcher of the Centre for Political Science had the chance to discuss these and similar questions with Titus Techera, a political scientist and visiting fellow of MCC in the latest episode of the Votes & Seats podcast series.

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

The ruling Georgian Dream party declared its victory, while the four main opposition alliances won’t accept the results published by the Central Election Commission. Anti-government political actors claimed the election was "rigged," and so the mass protests continued with people demanding a re-run of the legislative election.

While the major opposition players stated that the ruling party’s policies were incompatible with the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration prospects, government officials blame EU decision-makers for the derailment of the integration process.

Our guest expert, Mr. Victor Kipiani from Geocase believes that the most plausible solution to get out of the crisis could be considering holding new elections. However, at the time of recording, that option seems to be unacceptable for Georgian Dream.

In our new episode, we are traveling to Georgia with the aim of understanding the battle of narratives in the Caucasian country after the October 2024 legislative election.

• Victor Kipiani - Chair, Geocase
• Bálint L. Tóth - Researcher, MCC Center for Political Sceince

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

This time, we analyze the October 2024 presidential election and EU membership referendum that were held in Moldova on the same day.

Mr. Nicolae Panfil from Promo-LEX claims that the referendum turned out to be a “double-edged sword” in the campaign of incumbent head-of-state Maia Sandu: it did boost the president’s pro-EU image, yet it also gave a momentum to the pro-Russia machinery in the country.

By now, Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity absorbed all political power and marginalized other pro-EU forces. They were overconfident in the campaign and did not build alliances with opposition actors or NGOs, nor did they communicate any concrete message about their political visions on the country’s future other than EU-accession – our guest expert added.

Meanwhile, the pro-Russia opposition could effectively capitalize on the poor people’s disappointment in the government by exploiting the different toolkit of hybrid warfare: disinformation, vote buying, pyramid-like political network building, and corruption – Mr. Panfil concluded.

Listen to our newest podcast for more details and exciting facts about the social, cultural, geographic, and demographic background of the campaign and the ballot.

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

The oldest political player in Lithuania, the Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won the October 2024 parliamentary election securing 19% of the vote. On the other hand, the largest party in the outgoing center-right coalition, the Homeland Union (TS–LKD) finished second with 18%.

In the latest episode of Votes & Seats, we analyze the background, the circumstances and the consequences of LSDP’s considerable victory and the significant loss of parliamentary mandates of TS–LKD, in light of the presidential, EP, and parliamentary elections of 2024.

This time, we had on board as a guest expert Dr. Mindaugas Jurkynas, professor at the Department of Regional Studies at Vytautas Magnus University who helped us understand the bigger picture about Lithuanian politics.

Should you be interested in the most relevant social cleavages in contemporary Lithuania and their effect on the country’s party system as well as on the citizens’ voting preferences, here is your best chance to quench your thirst for knowledge by listening to our most recent podcast!

• Mindaugas Jurkynas

Professor, Department of Regional Studies, Vytautas Magnus University

• Bálint L. Tóth

Podcast editor, Researcher, MCC Center for Political Science

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

Our podcast series goes on with the 7th episode of its ‘Bulgaria spin-off.’ This time, it was Dr. Mariyan K. Sabev from the Center for the Study of Democracy to give us insights into the ever-lasting Bulgarian political saga.

As the expert pointed out: this election was not about political ideas but mere fighting among the parties for parliamentary representation. There were no coherent messages, no party programs communicated to the electorate. The politicians did not share their visions about the future, nor did they outline any concrete steps as for how to help Bulgaria end its constant political crisis.

Dr. Sabev stressed that due to unending spiral of early elections, Bulgarians are widely disengaged with politics. Yet, the decision-makers do not want to do a thing about that situation. The root cause of all the above must be the lack of a proper political class.  Instead, Bulgarian political actors are waiting for external drivers to lead the country out of the dark forest of ungovernability – our guest analyst concluded.

What can be said about the fairness of the election? How was it possible for a party to fall short from getting in the national legislation by only 27 votes? Are the Bulgarians heading towards yet another round of early elections? These are just a few of the interesting issues we touched upon in our latest episode.

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.

The conservatives and the social democrats were in charge for 80 years, maybe now it’s time for something new – says Dr. Ralph Schölhammer, assistant professor of International Relations at Webster Vienna Private University.

On 29 September 2024,  Austrians went to the polls to elect the members of the 28th National Council, the lower house of the country's bicameral parliament.

The Freedom Party (FPÖ) celebrated an unprecedented yet foreseeable victory in a campaign dominated by immigration issues and worries about the economy. The national conservative party’s plans to introduce firm rules against illegal immigration resonated with a considerable part of the society, the assistant professor explains.

Our guest expert claims that the outgoing government of the center-right People's Party (ÖVP) and the progressivist Greens lost considerable support amid rising inflation, as well as skyrocketing housing, electricity, and fuel prices. However, the slow decline of the biggest opposition player, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) has to do with the general loss of interest of the people about the emancipation endeavors of different social/gender/ethnic minorities, which is a global phenomenon, Schölhammer adds.

• Care to know more about contemporary social, economic, and political tendencies going on at our “Brother in law’s?”
• Interested in why our guest analyst claims that Hungary’s western neighbor has always been a culturally center-right country?
• Want to know why September 2024 marks the end of an era in the county of winter sports and Alpine traditions?

Give a listen to the Austria episode of the Votes & Seats podcast, hosted by researcher-lecturer Bálint L. Tóth.

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.